Pre and Post-hoc Diagnosis and Interpretation of Malignancy from Breast DCE-MRI

We propose a new method for breast cancer screening from DCE-MRI based on a post-hoc approach that is trained using weakly annotated data (i.e., labels are available only at the image level without any lesion delineation). Our proposed post-hoc method automatically diagnosis the whole volume and, for positive cases, it localizes the malignant lesions that led to such diagnosis. Conversely, traditional approaches follow a pre-hoc approach that initially localises suspicious areas that are subsequently classified to establish the breast malignancy -- this approach is trained using strongly annotated data (i.e., it needs a delineation and classification of all lesions in an image). Another goal of this paper is to establish the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches when applied to breast screening from DCE-MRI. Relying on experiments on a breast DCE-MRI dataset that contains scans of 117 patients, our results show that the post-hoc method is more accurate for diagnosing the whole volume per patient, achieving an AUC of 0.91, while the pre-hoc method achieves an AUC of 0.81. However, the performance for localising the malignant lesions remains challenging for the post-hoc method due to the weakly labelled dataset employed during training.Comment: Submitted to Medical Image Analysi

Automated 5-year Mortality Prediction using Deep Learning and Radiomics Features from Chest Computed Tomography

We propose new methods for the prediction of 5-year mortality in elderly individuals using chest computed tomography (CT). The methods consist of a classifier that performs this prediction using a set of features extracted from the CT image and segmentation maps of multiple anatomic structures. We explore two approaches: 1) a unified framework based on deep learning, where features and classifier are automatically learned in a single optimisation process; and 2) a multi-stage framework based on the design and selection/extraction of hand-crafted radiomics features, followed by the classifier learning process. Experimental results, based on a dataset of 48 annotated chest CTs, show that the deep learning model produces a mean 5-year mortality prediction accuracy of 68.5%, while radiomics produces a mean accuracy that varies between 56% to 66% (depending on the feature selection/extraction method and classifier). The successful development of the proposed models has the potential to make a profound impact in preventive and personalised healthcare.Comment: 9 page

Insegurança alimentar em idosos: estudo transversal com usuários de restaurante popular

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether food insecurity is associated with the demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health conditions of the elderly. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 427 elderly (³60 years) from Campinas, São Paulo; half were users of a government-run soup kitchen and the others, their neighbors of the same sex. Food insecurity was measured by the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Univariate multinomial logistic regression was used for calculating the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval to measure the association between the independent variables and food insecurity. Variables with p<0.20 were included in a multinomial model, and only those with p<0.05 remained. RESULTS: Most respondents (63.2%) were males; 15.2% and 6.6% were experiencing mild and moderate/severe food insecurity, respectively. The final model, adjusted for sex and age, showed that elderly with a total family income &#8804;2 minimum salaries (OR=3.41, 95%CI=1.27-9.14), who did not have a job (OR=2.95, 95%CI=1.23-7.06), and who were obese (OR=2.01, 95%CI=1.04-3.87) were more likely to be mildly food insecure. Elderly with cancer (OR=4.13, 95%CI=1.21-14.0) and those hospitalized in the past year (OR=3.16, 95%CI=1.23-8.11) were more likely to be moderately/severely food insecure. Finally, elderly living in unfinished houses (OR=2.71; and OR=2.92) and who did not consume fruits (OR=2.95 and OR=4.11) or meats daily (OR=2.04 and OR=3.83) were more likely to be mildly and moderately/severely food insecure. CONCLUSION: Food insecure elderly are more likely to have chronic diseases, poor nutritional status, and poor socioeconomic condition. Therefore, the welfare programs should expand the number of soup kitchens and develop other strategies to assure adequate nutrition to these elderly.OBJETIVO: Investigar a associação de insegurança alimentar com as condições demográficas, socioeconômicas, de estilo de vida e saúde de idosos. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal com 427 idosos (&#8805;60 anos), residentes em Campinas, São Paulo, usuários de restaurante popular, e seus respectivos vizinhos do mesmo sexo. A insegurança alimentar foi medida utilizando a Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar. Calculou-se Odds Ratio e Intervalo de Confiança de 95%, mediante regressão logística multinomial univariada, para medir associação das variáveis independentes com insegurança alimentar; as com p<0,20 integraram modelo de regressão multinomial múltiplo, permanecendo as variáveis com p<0,05. RESULTADOS: Dos entrevistados, 63,2% eram homens; houve 15,2% de insegurança leve e 6,6% de moderada/grave. No modelo final, ajustado por sexo e idade, observou-se maior chance de insegurança leve entre idosos que tinham renda familiar total &#8804; 2 salários-mínimos (OR=3,41; IC95%=1,27-9,14), não trabalhavam fora (OR=2,95; IC95%=1,23-7,06), e eram obesos (OR=2,01; IC95%=1,04-3,87). Houve maior chance de insegurança moderada/grave entre aqueles que referiram ter tido câncer (OR=4,13; IC95%=1,21-14,0) e internação no último ano (OR=3,16; IC95%=1,23-8,11). Maior chance de insegurança leve e moderada/grave foi observada entre aqueles que residiam em moradia de alvenaria inacabada/outras (OR=2,71; e OR=2,92), e que referiram não consumir diariamente frutas (OR=2,95; e OR=4,11) e carnes (OR=2,04; e OR=3,83). CONCLUSÃO: Os idosos com insegurança alimentar apresentam maior chance de doenças crônicas, pior estado nutricional, além de piores condições socioeconômicas, motivo pelo qual se sugere a expansão do número de restaurantes populares, bem como desenvolver outras estratégias para assegurar a nutrição adequada dos idosos.67969

2D Image head pose estimation via latent space regression under occlusion settings

Head orientation is a challenging Computer Vision problem that has been extensively researched having a wide variety of applications. However, current state-of-the-art systems still underperform in the presence of occlusions and are unreliable for many task applications in such scenarios. This work proposes a novel deep learning approach for the problem of head pose estimation under occlusions. The strategy is based on latent space regression as a fundamental key to better structure the problem for occluded scenarios. Our model surpasses several state-of-the-art methodologies for occluded HPE, and achieves similar accuracy for non-occluded scenarios. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed approach with: (i) two synthetically occluded versions of the BIWI and AFLW2000 datasets, (ii) real-life occlusions of the Pandora dataset, and (iii) a real-life application to human-robot interaction scenarios where face occlusions often occur. Specifically, the autonomous feeding from a robotic arm

Efficient Optimization Algorithm for Space-Variant Mixture of Vector Fields

This paper presents a new algorithm for trajectory classifi- cation of human activities. The presented framework uses a mixture of parametric space-variant vector fields to describe pedestrian’s trajecto- ries. An advantage of the proposed method is that the vector fields are not constant and depend on the pedestrian’s localization. This means that the switching motion among vector fields may occur at any image location and should be accurately estimated. In this paper, the model is equipped with a novel methodology to estimate the switching probabilities among motion regimes. More specifically, we propose an iterative optimization of switching probabilities based on the natural gradient vector, with respect to the Fisher information metric. This approach follows an information geometric framework and contrasts with more traditional approaches of constrained optimization in which euclidean gradient based methods are used combined with probability simplex constraints. We testify the per- formance superiority of the proposed approach in the classification of pedestrian’s trajectories in synthetic and real data sets concerning farfield surveillance scenarios

Plano de marketing para o Restaurante "O Policia"

Mestrado em MarketingEste trabalho de projecto tem como objectivo redefinir a estratégia do restaurante “O Polícia” através da elaboração de um plano de marketing. “O Polícia” actua no mercado há mais de cem anos, mas tem vindo a debater-se nos últimos três anos com uma quebra crescente dos lucros. Neste projecto foi utilizada como metodologia o action research, procurando-se desenvolver um trabalho de pesquisa em ligação estreita com as actividades do restaurante, e ao mesmo tempo efectuando a recolha de dados primários e secundários. Aos clientes do restaurante foi aplicado um inquérito de qualidade com base no modelo de SERVQUAL de Parasuraman, Zeithaml e Berry (1988). E foram procedidas entrevistas semi-estruturadas e de carácter informal aos trabalhadores da empresa. Regra geral, concluiu-se níveis de satisfação positivos por parte dos clientes, chamando à atenção para a necessidade de restruturação de alguns tangíveis do restaurante, e também ao nível das relações públicas e gestão de clientes. Este trabalho permitiu concluir que o IVA é um dos factores mais prejudiciais do restaurante em termos financeiros. Para além disso torna-se necessário apostar cada vez mais no segmento turístico. A estratégia formulada neste planeamento de marketing prevê uma actividade intensiva ao nível do mix promocional, nomeadamente dos media online, em que “O Polícia” se pretende posicionar como um restaurante tradicional e de elevada qualidade, onde os sabores são centenários e originais. Por último, este planeamento de marketing vem demonstrar o potencial do sector de restauração, onde as actividades de marketing e comunicação muitas vezes se encontram ausentes, e são cada vez mais imprescindíveis.The purpose of this project is to redefine the restaurant “O Polícia” (The Policeman) strategy, by building a marketing plan. “O Polícia” has been in the market for over one hundred years, but has been struggling in the last three years with the continuous decreasing of its profits. Action research was the leading methodology, as it was sought to develop an intimate work between the research itself and the restaurant own activities, at the same time gathering primary and secondary data. To the restaurant clients was applied a quality survey based on SERVQUAL model from Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988). And there were also undertaken semi-structured and informal interviews to the restaurant staff. In a general manner, the results revealed positive levels of satisfaction from the clients, highlighting the necessity of some restructuration on physical evidence as well as in public relations and client’s management. This work has allowed the conclusion that the VAT (Value Added Tax) is one of the most prejudicial factors affecting the business financially. Nevertheless, it is increasingly important to invest on the touristic segment. The strategy formulated in this marketing plan expects an intensive activity mostly on the promotional mix, namely the online media, and aims to place “O Polícia” in the market as a traditional restaurant of high quality, where flavors are centenary and unique. Finally, this marketing planning demonstrates the enormous potential of the restaurants sector, where marketing and communication activities many times are absent, though they are extremely more and more essential nowadays

Perceção das atitudes parentais e psicopatologia em adolescentes com percurso delinquente: um estudo comparativo

A presente investigação teve como principal objetivo realizar uma análise comparativa entre um grupo de adolescentes com percurso delinquente (N=63) e outro grupo de adolescentes da população geral (N=129) com idades compreendidas entre os 13 e os 18 anos. Pretendemos verificar possíveis diferenças ao nível da perceção das atitudes parentais e a eventual presença de psicopatologia (perturbação de ansiedade generalizada, perturbação de stress pós-traumático, perturbação depressiva major, ideação suicida, problemas de autoconceito e problemas interpessoais). De forma a dar resposta aos nossos objetivos, recorremos aos seguintes instrumentos: questionário de dados sociodemográficos e familiares (Lemos, 2007), Adolescent Psychopathology Scale – Short Form – APS – SF (Reynolds, 2000), Inventário de Perceções Adolescentes (IPA) (Flemming, 1988,1997), Inventário de Sintomas Psicopatológicos (BSI) - Índice Geral de Sintomas (IGS) (Derogatis, 1977) e Questionário sobre as características familiares, acontecimentos de vida e comportamento de jovens abrangidos pela lei Tutelar Educativa (Lemos, 2007; 2010). Relativamente aos principais resultados obtidos, encontrou-se diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre o grupo com percurso delinquente e o grupo sem percurso delinquente no que respeita ao número de reprovações, ao nível de escolaridade do pai e da mãe, ao nível socioeconómico e à situação conjugal dos pais. No que diz respeito à perceção das atitudes parentais, verificou-se que os valores médios eram superiores na escala da Hostilidade no grupo de adolescentes com percurso delinquente quando comparado ao grupo da população geral. Observou-se diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os grupos no que respeita à Ideação Suicida do APS-SF. Contudo, nas restantes escalas não se observaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas. Por último, podemos concluir que os jovens delinquentes reportavam mais sintomas psicopatológicos que o grupo de adolescentes da população geral.The main objective of the present investigation was to perform a comparative analysis between a group of adolescents with delinquent course (N = 63) and another group of adolescents from the general population (N = 129) aged between 13 and 18 years. We intend to verify possible differences in the perception of parental attitudes and eventual presence of psychopathology (generalized anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, self-concept problems and interpersonal problems). In order to meet our objectives, we used the following tools: Sociodemographic and Family Data Questionnaire (Lemos, 2007), Adolescent Psychopathology Scale - Short Form - APS - SF (Reynolds, 2000), Adolescent Perceptions Inventory (IPA) (Flemming, 1988,1997), Psychopathological Symptom Inventory (BSI) - General Symptom Index (IGS) (Derogatis, 1977) and Questionnaire on family characteristics, life events and behavior of young people covered by the Educatinal Guardianship Law (Lemos, 2007; 2010). Regarding the main results obtained, statistically significant differences were found between the delinquent and non-delinquent groups regarding the number of failures, the level of education of the father and the mother, the socioeconomic level and the marital status of the parents. Regarding the perception of parental attitudes, it was found that the mean values were higher on the Hostility scale in the group of adolescents with delinquent course when compared to the general population group. Statistically significant differences were observed between groups with respect to APS-SF Suicidal Ideation. However, in the remaining scales no statistically significant differences were observed. Finally, we can conclude that young offenders reported more psychopathological symptoms than the group of adolescents in the general populatio